I know you must have heard it before that your morning sets the tone for your entire day.
That’s why I try as much as possible to start my day on a positive note.
Start your morning stressed, sad, grumbling, and overwhelmed, and that’s exactly how the rest of your day will unfold.
If you want a happier life, stop doing these things in the morning.
1. Hitting Snooze Multiple Times
I used to be the snooze button queen.
My alarm would go off, and I’d hit snooze.
Nine minutes later, it would go off again, and I’d hit snooze.
This would happen four or five times before I’d finally drag myself out of bed, already running late and feeling groggy.
Sometimes I ask myself why I bother to set the alarm if I’d end up snoozing it. 😔
I honestly thought those extra nine-minute naps were helping me wake up gradually, easing me into the day.
But they were making everything worse because when you hit snooze, you’re training yourself to ignore your commitments and delay what you need to do.
You’re telling yourself, “Just a little longer, I don’t want to deal with life yet.”
And that mindset carries through your entire day.
I’ve come to realize those fragmented bits of sleep aren’t quality rest.
I’m not getting into deep sleep in nine minutes.
I’m just making myself more tired and disoriented.
So, to start your day right, force yourself to get up whenever your alarm goes off.
It’ll be hard, but you’ll have more time in the morning to do things instead of rushing, and you’ll be calmer.
2. Checking Your Phone Before Getting Out of Bed
I’ve talked about social media in the morning before, but this goes beyond just social media.
Checking emails, reading the news, scrolling through messages, looking at your calendar, and immediately feeling overwhelmed by everything you need to do that day are things you need to stop doing in the morning immediately you wake up.
When you reach for your phone before you’ve even fully woken up, you let the outside world set your emotional state before you’ve had a chance to ground yourself.
And that’s a terrible way to start your day.
You can put your phone away from you, maybe on your dresser, not beside you on the bed, so you don’t touch it for at least the first thirty minutes after you wake up.
I do that now, and I wake up, pray, get ready, and have my coffee in peace.
By the time I check my phone, I’m already grounded in my own peace and connected with God.
So whatever I see on my phone doesn’t have the same power to derail me because I’m coming from a place of centeredness instead of vulnerability.
Your phone will always be there, so the emails, messages, and notifications can wait thirty minutes.
Give yourself the gift of starting your day on your own terms.
3. Skipping Breakfast or Grabbing Something Unhealthy
Even though they say the “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” mantra is a marketing agenda from cereal companies, I’ve learned that what you put in your body in the morning absolutely affects how you feel the rest of the day.
I think two truths can co-exist.
I’m not saying you need to have a full English breakfast every morning or that you’ll die if you skip breakfast.
Some people do intermittent fasting, and they’re fine.
I even wait until I’m hungry before I eat these days, after taking my morning coffee.
On some days, you aren’t hungry in the morning.
But when you choose to eat breakfast, eat something real.
I usually do eggs and toast or overnight oats.
If you’re someone who can skip breakfast and feel fine, great.
Do what works for your body.
But if you’re like me and you notice you feel terrible when you don’t eat, stop skipping it or grabbing rubbish just because you’re in a rush.
Wake up ten minutes earlier if you have to, or prep something the night before.
Just feed your body properly.
You’ll be happier.
4. Rushing Through Everything
I’ve been waking up earlier these days, and I’m loving it.
I realize I get so much done when I wake up earlier, and I’m calmer throughout the day.
I used to wake up late, rush to get ready, yell at the kids to hurry up, skip parts of my morning routine because I was running behind, and leave the house already stressed and frazzled.
That was my every single morning.
And I’d arrive wherever I was going….work, church, an appointment, already exhausted and anxious before anything had even happened.
Rushing creates stress, and when you start your day stressed, you spend the rest of it trying to recover from that frantic energy.
It’s like you’re already behind before you even begin.
Then I started waking up just thirty minutes earlier than I used to, thanks to my obeying my alarm instead of snoozing it.
Just thirty minutes, but that small buffer changed everything.
Now I don’t have to rush.
I take my time getting ready.
I can sit with my coffee instead of gulping it down while running around, have real conversations with my kids instead of barking orders at them to hurry up, in fact, apply my makeup properly, and I leave the house calm instead of feeling like I’ve already run a marathon.
On days I’m not working from home, I get to the office earlier, looking all bright and sharp enough for my co-workers to notice.
If your mornings are rushed and chaotic, you need to wake up earlier.
I know that sounds terrible, especially if you’re already tired.
But I promise you, the peace that comes from having enough time in the morning is worth it.
Your whole day will feel different.
Stop doing these four things in the morning, and you’ll not only have a more productive day, but a happier life.